Ferrari top both days of Pirelli tests

Two days of testing on the 2011 Pirelli tyres concluded a few days ago, with Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso each topping one day each. While the tyres were slower than this year’s Bridgetones, most of the paddock appear to be happy with the new rubber.

Day 1

Sebastian Vettel suffered a tyre failure in the evening

Only one car ran from each team on these two days. Neither Lewis Hamilton or Jenson Buttom took any part, as Gary Paffett was driving the McLaren. Adrian Sutil, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Paul di Resta all shared the Force India.

On the first day, Felipe Massa was fastest with a 1.40.170, two seconds off Daniel Ricciardo’s time during the young driver test. Sebastian Vettel was 2nd, 4 tenths off the Ferrari. Gary Paffett was 3rd, Kamui Kobayashi 4th, Robert Kubica 5th, and Rubens Barrichello 6th.

Paul di Resta was 7th, but had only run during the second half of the session. Adrian Sutil initially had the car, but an exhaust problem forced him into the pits. He was only 10th.

Vettel’s day was ended abruptly, after a puncture in the evening. Pirelli have already suffered cuts to their rear tyres, but believe that debris caused the failure.

Times from Day 1:

Driver

Car

Time

1

Felipe Massa

Ferrari

1’40.170s

2

Sebastian Vettel

Red Bull

1’40.500s

3

Gary Paffett

McLaren

1’40.874s

4

Kamui Kobayashi

Sauber

1’40.950s

5

Robert Kubica

Renault

1’41.032s

6

Rubens Barrichello

Williams

1’41.425s

7

Paul di Resta

Force India

1’41.615s

8

Nico Rosberg

Mercedes

1’41.778s

9

Jaime Alguersuari

Toro Rosso

1’42.019s

10

Adrian Sutil

Force India

1’42.859s

11

Timo Glock

Virgin

1’44.124s

12

Heikki Kovalainen

Lotus

1’44.686s

13

Pastor Maldonado

HRT

1’45.728s

Day 2

Fernando Alonso topped Day 2

Fernando Alonso was quicker on the second day, but was 4 tenths off Massa’s time the day before. Michael Schumacher was 2nd, and Vettel 3rd.

Rubens Barrichello was 4th, Robert Kubica 5th, Gary Paffett 6th, and shared the car with Oliver Turvey, who was 7th. Paul di Resta was 8th, and shared the Force India with Liuzzi, who was 11th.

Kamui Kobayashi and Sebastien Buemi filled the top 10. Sergio Perez was 12th, Jarno Trulli 13th. Pastor Maldonado was 14th, but caused a red flag after a spin. Timo Glock was several hundreths off Maldonado.

Times from Day 2:

Driver

Team

Best lap

1

Fernando Alonso

Ferrari

1’40.529s

2

Michael Schumacher

Mercedes

1’40.685s

3

Sebastian Vettel

Red Bull

1’40.825s

4

Rubens Barrichello

Williams

1’41.294s

5

Robert Kubica

Renault

1’41.614s

6

Gary Paffett

McLaren

1’41.622s

7

Oliver Turvey

McLaren

1’41.740s

8

Paul di Resta

Force India

1’41.869s

9

Kamui Kobayashi

Sauber

1’42.110s

10

Sebastien Buemi

Toro Rosso

1’42.145s

11

Vitantonio Liuzzi

Force India

1’42.416s

12

Sergio Perez

Sauber

1’42.777s

13

Jarno Trulli

Lotus

1’44.521s

14

Pastor Maldonado

HRT

1’44.768s

15

Timo Glock

Virgin

1’44.783s

Pirelli have declared the test a success, although they now have 11,000 km of data to filter through. Aside from Vettel’s tyre problems, the rubber stood up well, and the switch from Bridgestones to Pirellis shouldn’t be too difficult for the teams.

With this being the final session of 2010, the F1 engines will be switched off until the 1st February 2011, when testing resumes at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia.